News

Preliminary trial hearings will be introduced in Irish law for the first time by the summer under government plans announced today. The Criminal Procedure Bill 2021 will implement a recommendation raised in successive reports into the conduct of criminal trials in the State.

Mr Justice Séamus Woulfe is set to hear Supreme Court cases for the first time next month following the row over his attendance at a controversial dinner during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the legal diary published by the Courts Service yesterday, Mr Justice Woulfe will sit on Thursda

Scottish lawyers have voted to follow their Irish counterparts in dropping the use of "Dear Sirs" as a salutation in formal letters and emails, a new survey has revealed. The Law Society of Ireland last year announced it would "lead the way in discontinuing the use of this outdated greeting".

Ireland's human rights watchdog has urged the Supreme Court to strike down the law on revocation of citizenship in its entirety. Judges are continuing to consider what declaration to make following their ruling last October that the procedure set out under section 19 of the Irish Nationality and Cit

Legislation providing for parental bereavement leave and pay will be brought to the Northern Ireland Assembly following the completion of a consultation. Economy Minister Diane Dodds has published her Department's assessment and response to the two-month consultation, which closed in August.

Limavady solicitor David Brewster has passed away at the age of 56. Mr Brewster qualified as a solicitor in September 1988 and was well known as principal of DR Brewster Solicitors.

A peer has predicted that the Chinese authorities will sack the British judges who sit on Hong Kong's highest court amid the withdrawal of a barrister who was prosecuting the region's leading pro-democracy activists. Lord Garnier QC, a former Conservative solicitor-general, told The Times that he th

Egyptian police have arrested a woman who made "indecent" cupcakes with penis-shaped frosting. Photos of the controversial cakes, some of which had frosting shaped like buttocks and underwear, went viral on social media.

The High Court has found that a couple have established that there is a fair question to be tried as to the correct interpretation of a charge over their lands. Mr Justice Senan Allen heard an application by the registered owners of lands for an interlocutory injunction restraining the registered ow

A&L Goodbody (ALG) has announced the appointment of 10 new partners, one new of counsel and 23 new associates across its Dublin and Belfast offices.

Irish barrister Arran Dowling-Hussey has become a tenant at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square in London. Speaking to Irish Legal News, Mr Dowling-Hussey said he had accepted the offer to become a tenant "whilst remaining in practice as a barrister, arbitrator and mediator from the Law Library".

Proposed legislation to overhaul the judicial appointments process will undergo pre-legislative scrutiny after TDs rejected a bid from Justice Minister Helen McEntee to expedite the process. The chair of the Oireachtas justice committee had said last month that the process should not be skipped simp

Lawyers acting for Sir Van Morrison have launched a legal challenge against the blanket ban on live music in licensed premises in Northern Ireland. Belfast-based John J Rice & Co Solicitors is acting for the famous musician in a judicial review which argues the ban, which dates back to the begin

Dr David Kenny, assistant professor of law at Trinity College Dublin, argues the government's legal advice on the rights of adopted children is flawed and a referendum on the matter is not needed. As the country comes to grips with the report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission and reckons yet a

People who attack police officers or ambulance staff could face stiffer prison sentences in Northern Ireland following a review, Justice Minister Naomi Long has indicated. At present, offenders brought before a magistrates' court can be jailed for up to six months and those brought to the Crown Cour